Go, and embrace your liberty. And see what wonderful things come of it. – Little Women

A Year in Review: 2014

2014 was a year of dealing with grief, of learning to live life without Dad and learning to live with a little boy in my life; a year of work changes and opportunities, and overall, a year that flew by, seemed frantic, but also took me to a new place in realizing what matters in life.

Here is how I did on my 2014 goals:

1. Pay off credit card, student loan dent, etc.: No dent in the student loan, though made significant progress in credit cards.

2. Build my relationship/sense of family with my man and his son: It goes without saying that beyond dealing with the death of my Dad, this was my number one priority for 2014. It is what I am most proud of for the year; I never thought I’d be in a ‘step mom’ role, but it has brought me more joy than I could ever imagine.

3. Cultivate my green thumb:We had a somewhat successful garden outside, a very successful sunroom potted tomato plant, and I planted flowers throughout the various warm seasons. I am happy to report that I have kept my sole houseplant alive- a peace lily that was sent to the family when my Dad died.

4. Plans with friends more frequently: I’d say about a 60% success rate. Various life things got in the way and I didn’t have friends over for dinners/game nights like I wanted, but still managed to make plans with friends both near and far. It’s clear as life and adulthood happens, this is one of the things I have to work hard to maintain.

5. Challenge myself in the kitchen with recipes, new foods, etc.: I made a lot of new things this year, including more than a few loser dishes, but overall, I think I did alright. I did not bake bread or make risotto this year, but I think the overall kitchen confidence/cooking thing really is more of an ongoing life goal.

6. More yoga, painting, writing, and reading: Yes, yes, yes, yes. I read 51 books. I started an awesome yoga practice that has changed my outlook on being healthy. I amped up my freelance writing which also helped me get my creativity going for my own personal writing. While I haven’t painted anywhere as much as I thought I would, it has become an awesome activity for Little Man and I to do together and something we both enjoy.

7. More day trips and exploring local spots: Q&I were really good about this in the late winter and spring as cabin fever snuck in, but the summer brought yard work and house cleanouts that limited our weekend exploring. We bought a small blowup pool for the backyard to enjoy with Little Man– after that, he didn’t really want to go anywhere else! We are starting to compile a fun list for places to visit together and as a family.

8. Hiking: We did a fair amount in the spring and fall, even taking Little Man with us a few times. It was nice to discover some close spots that we could visit after running errands on weekends to get some time outside.

9. House ( office, garage, basement): The office project sort of went away by March when that room was made into Little Man’s space with a bed and lots of toys. The desk still remains in there, but I haven’t sat at it in months, which hasn’t been too much of an issue as I’ve been doing a lot of my writing on the laptop at the dining room table. It’s not ideal, but for situation at the moment in a small house, it works. The basement is a bit of a mess still with various bits of furniture being stored there that came out of my grandmother’s house. There were some really great pieces I wanted to save, but until we get a bigger place or reorganize upstairs, they’ll stay there. Things are far better contained now, with a nice workout area setup for Q and me. The garage– nothing happened there at all.

10. Take a vacation- My Mom and I went to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. It was awesome.